Eating back calories burned

Pauljsmith

Just asking when u set up mfp. Do people add extra calories for your workouts. I use a h/r monitor. To c how much I burn, do I add that burn to mfp

BigAl_2

Yes, you should be entering your exercise. MFP is set up so that you eat back your calories, but many people dont because of dicrepancies in how much they may have actually burned.

shadow2soul

If your following the default MFP method, then yes you should. MFP gives you a calorie goal based on your activity level without exercise. So if you set it to lose 1lb per week, you should be able to eat your calorie goal and lose 1lb per week without exercise. When you exercise you should eat those calories back. However, since it is hard to really know how many you are burning, it's best not to eat 100%.

What I do:
MFP Estimates/Exercise Machines - 50 to 75% back ( they tend to overestimate)
HRM - up to 80% (only really accurate for steady state cardio, I'm too lazy test how accurate it is for me and what I do though)
Fitbit Adjustments (when I had it)/Garmin Adjustments (still testing) - 100% (Fitbit underestimated calories burned for me, so I was able to eat the full adjustment give. I haven't had my VivoFit long enough to know if it will be accurate or not)

MKEgal

My doctor & dietician say not to, and it's been working for me.
Just eat 10x your healthy goal weight in calories. Ignore net.
When I'm hungry at the end of the day, I'll have 1/3 - 1/2 of what MFP says I've burned, which is always more than what the machine at the gym says I've burned. But it's not an everyday thing.

williams969

MKEgal wrote: »

My doctor & dietician say not to, and it's been working for me.
Just eat 10x your healthy goal weight in calories. Ignore net.
When I'm hungry at the end of the day, I'll have 1/3 - 1/2 of what MFP says I've burned, which is always more than what the machine at the gym says I've burned. But it's not an everyday thing.

That's a VERY general guideline, and in many cases, a very bad one. For example, my TDEE (averaged out to include rest days) is around 2100. And that's not intense exercise, either; just walking as required to carry me from home to work and school, etc. plus 3 hours a week of moderate gym time. Should I eat 1300 calories a day, making an 800 calorie a day deficit? That would be ridiculous and leave me starving, hangry, and crazy.

For most people, since you're here on MFP, give the "MFP method" of eating back exercise at least a chance. That's the way it's designed to work. I've lost 25 pounds in half a year doing it the "MFP way", i.e. eating back my exercise calories.

TheDoughnutTheif

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/eating-back-calories-burned/